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Originally Posted by Cornstock
A couple questions maybe y'all can answer that crossed my mind watching this:
Around 3:30 the guy announces that they are switching from one guy at the stick to the other. Why is it necessary to change who's steering it halfway through?
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According to a random forum post:
http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Foru...ML/000559.html
It's common for commanders to give the pilot control here and there just for practice. Not very exciting, I know.
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It might just be camera angles, but are they pretty much vertical at some points in that descent? Talk about coming in hot...
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According to this article...
https://science.howstuffworks.com/space-shuttle7.htm
It comes in at a max angle of -20 degrees. Compare that to around -3 degrees for a commercial aircraft landing. That's far from vertical, and the camera angles probably exaggerate it, but it's definitely a steep rate.
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When the landing gear deployed, it seemed like the compartment doors were much thicker than standard wheel well door. Are they pressurized to keep the wheels from exploding in 0 pressure? Or are they solid rubber? Or are they inflated during the descent?
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Here's some info on the Space Shuttle tires. In short, they're nitrogen-filled.
https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/re...re-basic-facts
My guess is that they are plenty strong to be fine in a vacuum. The wheel doors are probably thicker just due to the amount of heat the shuttle has to handle on the way down.